Newsmakers

Four Brandeis seniors are back on campus after spending the summer doing disability-related research and advocacy as the 2015 fellows in the Ruderman Social Justice in Disability Scholars Program. Jennifer Bromberg, Elizabeth Chalfin, Jennifer Lee and Deanna Marion are the second class of fellows selected for the program, which helps undergraduates majoring in Health: Science, Society and Policy become leaders in the effort to improve the lives of people with disabilities. As part of the program, the seniors also participate in a mentored research assistantship in disability policy.

A video created by the Office of Communications in collaboration with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee affirms Brandeis’ campuswide commitment to ensuring every LGBTQ student-athlete enjoys a supportive and level playing field. In just over two minutes, the “You Can Play” video showcases players from all 19 varsity Judges teams, who pledge to fight discrimination inside and outside the athletic arena. Watch the stirring clip at www.brandeisjudges.com/video/You_Can_Play.

Professors of biology Sacha Nelson and John Lisman ’66, the Zalman Abraham Kekst Chair in Neuroscience, are among the first researchers to receive funds under President Barack Obama’s BRAIN Initiative, a $100 million effort to revolutionize what we know about the brain and neurological disorders. Nelson and a team of collaborators at three other universities won $3.4 million to research how neuronal cell types evolved. Lisman’s team, led by Ivan Soltesz at UC Irvine, received $1.95 million to explore how brain cells work together to remember a sequence of events, like a route. Eve Marder ’69, the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience, sits on the BRAIN Initiative’s advisory board.

In late August 2014, Denise Dallamora became the 14th Division III women’s soccer coach to rack up 300 wins. Dallamora has been head coach of the women’s squad since it was formed in 1980. She and Mike Coven, who signed on as head coach of the men’s soccer team in 1973, are the longest-tenured coaching duo in collegiate soccer history. Coven — the only current Brandeis coach to have won a national NCAA title, in 1976 — is closing in on his 500th win.

In June 2014, Eugene Goodheart, the Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities Emeritus, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Goodheart is a literary critic and essayist.